The Chosen Guest
Release Date: Coming October 2026
Synopsis
Mari Koval is a freak. At 6’5” and built big, that’s how she sees herself. After years of being bullied in school, she lets no one close. People only know the mask she hides behind. Mari has a dream—starting a bold clothing line for women who can’t shop off the rack. That, and to have the guts to wear her own designs.
It’s winter-dismal in Chicago when Mari sees a website for Temptation Cove, an exclusive singles-only resort on a small island in the Caribbean. They’re running a sweepstakes, and the prize is a week-long vacation, free of charge. Despite an invasive questionnaire and the fact that the island has no cell or internet service, Mari enters.
And wins.
The island is beautiful, and Mari’s confidence soars when her daring clothes bring more male attention than she’s ever had. But something is off. Details don’t jibe with memories of her nightly trysts. She and another contestant investigate and discover a string of past winners have died on the island. Then they stumble on a dangerous secret—they weren’t lucky, they were specifically chosen. To survive, Mari is going to have to rip off her mask and use every bit of strength she didn’t know she had.
Her dream vacation has become a nightmare, and the resort’s tagline a threat:
What happens on Escondida Island always stays here.
If you liked Sager’s Lock Every Door and Ware’s One Perfect Couple, you should love The Chosen Guest!
Prologue
Jennifer Jenks,
December 2022
Mom always said that if I didn’t learn to shut my mouth, it would end badly for me.
Another wave washes over my face, and I come up sputtering. I push down the panic that rises with the bile in the back of my throat, lie back to kick, slow and easy. They say your strength will last longer if you relax, but that became impossible an hour ago, when my teeth started chattering. The Caribbean is warm, but not after swimming three hours wearing only a bikini.
I look up at the cheerful blue sky full of white puffy clouds. How could anything bad happen in such an idyllic place?
Where the hell is that island? On the map, it looked to be only five miles from the resort but—UGH! A cramp locks my left calf in a vise. I lean forward, put my face in the waves, and knead the muscle. Again. I need water. I need electrolytes. I need rest.
And I’m not getting any of those till I make that island.
Kicking hard, I look to the horizon. Dammit, where is it? It’s small, uninhabited and too close to the resort, but if I can get there, I’ll figure out the next step, whatever that is.
Anything is better than what the management planned for me.
If I’d only played dumb for two more days, I could have flown home and told my story—of the hideous degradation that women aren’t even aware they’re being subjected to. But I was so outraged. So shocked. So pissed.
Lie back…try to relax…kick. That’s all you have to do. You’re getting closer. Believe it.
A massive cramp hits my gut. I double over, my legs useless. I look up. The blue sky turns darker, then disappears. Bubbles rise, dancing up to the sunlight.
I’m sorry mom, you, were right.